Cannabis Expo 2014 in Uruguay

The First Cannabis Expo 2014 in Uruguay

On December 14th and 15th 2014, for the first time the Cannabis Expo will be held in Montevideo with several activities, conferences on the multiple uses of marijuana and the new regulations in Uruguay.

The first Cannabis Expo Uruguay will have national and international experts and lecturers and more than 40 booth exhibitors all providing information about cannabis and its different uses. It will be held to promote the medicinal, therapeutic and industrial potential of cannabis and hemp.

The New Law

This event takes place after the adoption of Law 19,172 regulating the cannabis market in the country, which enables the production and scientific research of hemp and cannabis. This is the first meeting of cannabis and hemp in Uruguay. “It will be a contribution to the demystification of cannabis, informing the public about the risks and damage to their use,” said the organizers of the conference.

The National Drug Board and the Institute for Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA) will have their booth and will register those interested in growing marijuana, as stipulated in the law of market regulation that took effect in May this year.

A New Perspective

Expo Cannabis seeks to create a space for communication and exchange among all participants in topics related to cannabis in the medicinal, therapeutic and industrial field.

During the two-day conference, exchanges between national and international investors and experts will address various issues and up-to-date research. There will be also, film, music and theatre, and a museum exhibit.

Hemp for Multiple Uses

With the legalization of marijuana, Uruguay also became the first South American country to authorize the cultivation of hemp for industrial use, a plant used in textiles, food and cosmetics, described as “new organic soy” by its promoters.

The law approved in 2014 by the Uruguayan parliament allows planting, growing, harvesting, processing and marketing of non-psychoactive cannabis use, such plants containing not more than 1% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The seeds of varieties of hemp to use must not exceed 0.5% THC.

The Industrial Association Hemp is looking for future partners to develop food products, cosmetics and construction. With a grain rich in protein and Omega-3 oils hemp is used for food and cosmetic industries. The fibres are also used to make fabrics, ropes, bio composites and supplies. It also has potential for the hydrocarbon sector but using it as biofuel would mean wasting a very nutritious food.

Lectures

The event, which was declared of interest by the Ministries of Industry and Culture of Uruguay, will have several speakers, among them:

Guillermo Garat, journalist, author of “Marijuana and Other Herbs: use, prohibition and regulation of drugs in Uruguay”

Don Wirtshafter, lawyer and businessman involved in projects on legal use of cannabis products worldwide, will be among foreign exhibitors.

Joel Stanley , U.S. lecturer, pioneer in the treatment with medicinal cannabis. Stanley became well known, through the development of genetics, and of the cannabis oil that allowed the 99% reduction of seizures in Charlotte Figi – a girl from Colorado. Figi’s mother will also give a lecture.

The lectures will emphasize the progress of the hemp industry in the dissemination ofcurrent regulations and medicinal uses worldwide and in Uruguay.

Museum Sample

At the entrance of the exhibition, there will be a sample of the Marihuana & Hemp Museum, the most important museum in the world of this nature, exhibits based in Barcelona and Amsterdam.

The exhibition area at LATU opens a space for an open debate with responsibility and respect and the participation at the conference allows the public to comment their opinion on the legalisation of marijuana in Uruguay.

Pharmacies in Uruguay getting ready to sell Marijuana

At the same time, the national government is negotiating the percentage that the pharmacies in Uruguay will charge for selling marijuana that is regulated by the state. The government has set the price at which the drug is sold from producers to distribution points. The plan is that as from March 15th, 2015 on, the sales of marijuana will start at pharmacies.

Sources of the Institute of Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA) said that companies are responsible for the production and delivery to the pharmacies with a profit of between 12% and 15%. It is unknown yet, what percentage of profits, will be absorbed by the Central Pharmacy. Officials estimate that surely the gram will sell at dollar to consumers.